16-08-2012, 01:25 PM
THE USE OF NON-MONETARY INCENTIVES AS A MOTIVATIONAL
TOOL: A SURVEY STUDY IN A PUBLIC ORGANIZATION
IN TURKEY
THE USE OF NON-MONETARY INCENTIVES AS A MOTIVATIONAL.pdf (Size: 1.01 MB / Downloads: 106)
INTRODUCTION
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
with the concepts of ability,
opportunity and motivation (Ivancevich & Matteson, 1988). Ability is a function
of skills, education, experience and training. Opportunity refers to the
infrastructure needed to perform a job. Finally, motivation is the desire to achieve
a goal and willingness to exert effort for it. Motivation is something that can lead
to better performance when other conditions are met. But, it has an advantage over
others in the sense that while the opportunity and ability tend to be stable and
difficult to change for the personnel, motivation has a flexibility, that is, it can be
changed by some means. Moreover, it is apparent that in the absence of
willingness to perform; capacity and opportunity will not generate the desired
results. If the situation is to be explained by a proverb; you can take the horse to
the water but you cannot make it drink.
All organizations, whether public or private, need motivated employees to
be effective and efficient in their functioning, in addition to the other factors.
Employees who are motivated to work energetically and creatively toward the
accomplishment of organizational goals are one of the most important inputs to
organizational success. Consequently, the challenge for organizations is to ensure
that their employees are highly motivated.
When the issue is motivation, one of the first things that comes to ones
mind is the concept of incentive, which refers to any means that makes an
employee desire to do better, try harder and expend more energy. With regard to
monetary incentives, it can be argued that private organizations have more
financial sources to motivate their employees than the public organizations. It is
known that public employees’ payment levels in Turkey are generally low
compared to private sector employees. Moreover, while many private
organizations have monetary incentives such as bonuses, commissions, cash
rewards etc, it is quite challenging for the public sector to provide such incentives
in adequate levels in a weak national economy. As a result, it is important to look
for any possible alternative means that can be used to motivate employees in the
public sector.
In line with this purpose, this study focuses on the use of non-monetary
incentives as a motivational tool and their effectiveness in the motivation of public
sector employees. Non-monetary or non-cash incentives do not involve direct
payment of cash and they can be tangible or intangible. Some examples of this
kind of incentives are; encouraging the employees by providing them with
autonomy in their job and participation in decision making, assigning challenging
duties, improving working conditions, recognizing good work through small gifts,
letters of appreciation, plagues, tickets to restaurant etc., providing some services
for the employees, organizing social activities in the work place, etc.
Starting with Elton Mayo and Human Relations School, it is emphasized
that the need for recognition, self respect, growth, meaningful work, social
activities are as important as monetary incentives in increasing the employees’
morale and motivation. There are many contemporary research studies supporting
the effectiveness of non-monetary incentives as a motivating tool in the private
sector organizations. However, there is hardly any study regarding its use in public
sector organizations. This study will try to shed light on this issue and explore the
motivating potential of non-monetary incentives in the public sector of Turkey.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The present study aims to demonstrate to what extent non-monetary
incentives are utilized in the public sector of Turkey and whether they have the
potential to motivate public employees as much as monetary incentives. Through a
survey study administered at the General Directorate of Investment and
Enterprises in Ankara, the following research questions were tried to be addressed:
1) What is the degree of utilization of the non-monetary incentives in this
public organization, based on the perceptions of public employees?
2) To what extent do non-monetary incentives have a motivating potential
for the public employees in this organization?
3) What does the concept of “non-monetary incentive” mean to the public
employees?
4) What are the most important job factors that contribute to the
employees’ willingness to exert more effort in their jobs?
5) Is there a significant difference between the average rankings of these
job factors based on position in the organization and job tenure?
6) What is the type of incentive that the public employees in this
organization value most?
7) Which type of non-monetary incentive do the public employees value
most?
8) How do public employees perceive the effectiveness of non-monetary
incentives in the absence of monetary incentives?
9) Is there a statistically significant difference between the subordinates
and superiors with regard to their incentive preferences in the public
sector?
10) Is there a statistically significant difference between employees’
incentive preferences based on job tenure?
The following hypotheses are formulated to address some of the research
TESTS OF HYPOTHESES
HYPOTHESIS ONE
Hypothesis one is concerned with assessing whether there is a statistically
significant difference between the superiors’ and subordinates’ ranking of any of
the factors contributing to their willingness to exert more effort in their jobs. To
calculate the overall level of ranking of each factor in the employees responses, a
score is assigned to each of the five factors listed by the employees; score 5 being
the most important factor, 1 being the least important and unlisted ones being 0.
According to this calculation, the mean scores for each of the factors are as
follows.